Nissan Altima Electrical Issues

99 Nissan Altima GXE. 78K. great car. Not many complaints. Recently, the interior light's been flickering on and off. more specifically, it turns on with hard stops and flickers on bumps occasionally. The light on the dash for open door blinks along with it. I've checked all the doors and the trunk and they all appear to be closed tight (as far as I know). Is there a possibility that one of the door sensors is loose or malfunctioning? What's a good way to troubleshhot this? I think and hope this an easy fix that I can take care of.

Comments

HEY! i got the same problem. Same car, and same year with the same trim, well anyways my car was hit on that side. It's still damaged but the problem is that the bottom of the door on my car,(the part that connects to the sensor) is bent to the outside a little bit, but not that much cuz when i drive, the light on the dash blinks, so does the interior light(i just turned it off, it stayed on whenever i left my car). maybe the sensor isn't connecting well, u should have it looked at. ohhh..one thing, all my doors except my driver door has a sensor, do u have the same thing?

My car hasn't been hit on the sides. My driver door has a sensor, and my guess is that it's the one that's on the driver side that's giving me trouble. I fiddle with the sensor and it goes away. We'll see what else comes of it. Evenetually I'll find out what sensor it is but it looks okay for now.

It's still doing it. It actually seems that when i get up or down from the seat of the car it turns on/off. I've fiddled with the door sensors which seem OK. Could there be wiring running under the seat (stock wiring) that has a short or something? It's very puzzling since I've never done any electrical modifications to the car. Any suggestions?

I have had my 2000 Altima since 2003, with very few problems, except for some intermittent electrical issues, which very recently turned major. Yesterday the car started smoking from inside the cabin (from under the dash of the passenger side). This is most likely some electrical wires overheating/touching, etc.). I had it towed to the Nissan Dealer, and it is now being checked out, but I wanted to see if anyone else has experienced problems with this before. About six months ago, a fuse would blow when I tried to start the car. All I had to do was replace them, and the car would start, but my mechanic could not pinpoint where the problem was in the electrical system. This happened three times in two weeks. Since then, I haven't had any problems (until yesterday). Also, I have to replace the battery about every 9 months, as the battery will completely die, and will not hold a recharge. I'm assuming this drain is also related to some electrical problem. Any help or suggestions on what the problem might be? :confuse: :sick:

I also have that problem in my 1998 Altima GXE. Just started, and to think of it, I was in a collision with my passenger side which was fixed a few weeks ago. Now the light dash is constantly blinking and clicking and sometimes my alarm goes off for no reason. I have to take it in, someone let me know if you find out a easy fix for this.. I am pretty sure that this is related to my passenger door but I don't know. Also the hooks that the doors latch to seem to have the coating worn off the metal, not sure if that has happened to you as well.

I Just had my battery go out today (at least I think it was) took it to O'Reillys got a new battery installed it. Starts fine but none of the electricals work now Like the radio, wipers, blinkers, power locks, power windows. only think that does work that I have noticed is the headlights and brake lights. Any body know what could be causing any of this? I checked the fuses they looked good. also should add I know nothing about cars. Any help would be most appreciated..

I took mine to the dealership and they said my keyless entry sensor was going bad which was shorting out the door sensors and draining the battery. They quoted me over $600 to replace it. I asked them to instead just unwire my dome light since that was what was draining the battery but I find this morning my car won't start, the battery is still drained. Now i have to figure out what I'm going to do. I originally asked them to disconnect the keyless sensor but they claimed it would possibly give a computer error and my alarm would not work. Which I can live with since it is a 98.. But I need it to start!

I bought a '01 Altima GXE last July, All went well until Feb. Driving along and the dash instruments go to "0" odo.(digital) goes blank. Done this off and on then around March it started to lose power when the dash went blank. I would stop the car. turn it off for 5 min. then off we'd go. It got so bad i was afraid to drive it. the service engine light soon has come on once or twice. Got it to the garage during one of those times. they have replacedwiring ,a tune-up,new battery,new computer, a Nissian serviceman has worked with them on it , still doing it. they have had it a month. Has ANYONE else had this problem???

I am having almost the issues as {funkyscooby},I bought the cars used.The cars runs ok but a few days ago the battery went dead.I charged it and it seemed to be ok.Since then the car died from lack of power(low battery).I charged it again and now have no turn signals ,horn, wondows, fuel ga., temp ga.Termanals are fine and so are fuses.

My 2002 Altima 3.5L (5sp. manual) started having electrical problems -the a/c quit working, tail-lights wouldn't work, windshield wipers wouldn't work, headlights wouldn't shut off when left in the auto position, etc. I had the alternator checked and replaced -it was only putting out about 40 amps -but the a/c, tail-lights and the windshield wipers still will not work. Any ideas?

I bought this car new. Ever since, my local mileage has been pretty crappy. Aourn 20mpg. On the highways, I can get around 30. I know that stop and go will bring down the gas consumption ,as will using the ac/c. I am up to close to 50K miles. In the "old days" I would change plugs (evejn if platinum) around 60 K miles. My dealer suggests that I wait intil I get close to 90,000 miles. I do change air filters regulalry. They have not looked dirty. Any idea?

My 2001 Altima GXE has recently had the same problem. It began several months ago with the fuel gauge indicator being intermittent. It would not come on at start up, then suddenly coming on after driving 15 minutes like the car got an "erection". Or I would have to tap the glass in front of the fuel gauge indicator with my finger to get it to come up. It was more a nuisance than a problem. On one occasion a month ago, my speedometer suddenly froze at "50 mph" regardless of my speed or stopping. After shutting down and restarting car after several minutes, the indicator came back normal. In September 2007. I moved much farther from my job- an hour to hour ten minute drive and on 4 occasions the ENTIRE instrument cluster would go out suddenly after driving for about an hour, speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, temperature gauge. My impression is it seems to happen intermittently and only after engine heats up after driving about an hour. (Note my radio, heater, head lights which were in use did NOT go out). If I would stop and restart engine after 10 minutes, all indicators would come back up normally. It last happened going into work on the tollway one morning. I actually saw the speedometer suddenly go to zero. The odometer, tachometer, etc, and the engine seemed to stall and I was slowly losing speed. I managed to pull off on shoulder with a semi barreling down behind me. After 15 minutes I was able to start normally, get on the road, and limp into work. The car seem to run a bit sluggish. I did not trust driving it so had the car towed back from work to the dealer where I bought it. The Service Department thought it might be a Tachometer problem. Nissan advised the Service Department to replace all of the gauges in the instrument cluster under the extended warranty, and at least for now, the car seems to run okay. Note the cluster consists of more than one asm. I have driven the car for a week without problem but it is too soon to say the problem has been fixed. I have kind of lost confidence in the vehicle and it may be time to start looking for another car, but I still have about 8 mos of payments remaining on the car. Note at NO time did the "service engine" light come on. The problem may be electrical, but could be the result of the car heating up after driving awhile. At least, this was suggested by one person in the service department. If this is the case, then the new instrument gauges may not resolve the underlying problem. Only time will tell. Right now I am driving it but don't have complete piece of mind.

yes can somebody please help me!!! a couple months ago somebody broke into my car and stole my deck. i got it replaced and now when ever i turn my headlights on my dash lights go off please help me with this problem thanks alot

My best guess is that doing an internet search will show you the location. I also think that you can access the fuses under the dash, near the hood release. (Left side) The lid to the box will normally tell you the location and function of each fuse. I trust you may have the tool to remove. (No big deal, fingers work.)

Do you have your manual? It should show you which one is for the heater, but if you don't have one, a Google search may very well help as skinsfan3 suggests, or someone here may be able to help. It would probably help to know what year and model your Altima is.

If anyone knows the answer, I'm sure they'll chime in. Whether you'll hear from someone before you have to leave in the morning just depends on who happens to stop by here. I'd try the google search that was recommended while you are waiting.

I have a 2003 and don't know where the fuses are. I did have an 86mr2 and the fuses were located under the hood. I wonder if your problem is really the fuse? I know that sometimes replacing water in a radiator might result in a pressure problem, causing the heating sytem no become inoperable. I hope it is only a fuse, which should run you about 2 bucks.

I think that should be addressed in your owners manual, or a shop manual if you have one. Don't forget about an internet search. By the way, I would not fiddle around with a change in the thermostat. In the old days, we used to take them out, but that is a crappy way to solve what should be an easy problem. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, watch out since the thermostats used to be housed in a casting and tightening up would crack them. I wonder what they do these days?

I have a 2000 Altima GLE. I was glad to read about your experience because my car is doing the same thing except so far the engine has not stalled, however, if I am on the highway, the cruise control goes right out and the car quickly slows and continues to slow until I accelerate. The car continues to run, but the speedometer, the odometer, etc. is completely blank. After the car is off for a long time, when I restart it, the speedometer, odometer, etc. are working, but if I am on the highway again, or if I use the cruise control, it happens all over again. It sometimes happens when I drive in the city, but not as often. If I can't find the solution, I am afraid the problem may become progressively worse with the car stalling in traffic and other electrical problems. Urgent, Please let me know if the new instrument gauges you had installed has solved this problem!! Thank you so much!!

The Nissan dealer where I bought the car replaced the instrument cluster under the extended warranty. (I only had to pay $50 deductible). The cluster consists of different gauges: odometer, temperature, fuel, tachometer. So far I have driven the car over 2050 miles and the problem has not recurred. The displays have not gone out and I have not experienced any slowing down or stalling.

the other day i was parked on an incline and my car would not start so i had it towed and they found out after bout 4 hours my spark plugs were wet..now i am in the same place 2 weeks later i took them out today after work and only 2 were wet and 1 was burned so i dried them off and installed them and still no start it sounds like it is trying to start but just wont somebody please help me!!!!!!!!